As personal computers have increased in power and decreased in size, portable computers have become more useful and powerful. Initially, portable computers were essentially ruggedized desktop computers, requiring use of a desk top and access to commercial power. Eventually, battery-powered portable computers commonly featuring a liquid crystal display (LCD) and weighing 10 to 20 pounds allowed true freedom for the computer user. Notebook computers weighing from 4 to 10 pounds and having a length and width approximating that of notebook paper offered an increased degree of portability, without substantially sacrificing desktop computer power.
Since the advent of the notebook computer, evermore smaller computers have been tested in the marketplace. However, the smaller units have not generally enjoyed much success, primarily due to limitations associated with the input/output (I/O) devices resulting from the reduced size of the computers. In particular, computer users wish to have a visual display that is as large as possible to display data either in greater quantity or with greater clarity. In addition, the size of a human hand dictates that a keyboard for manual data entry preferably be of a certain minimum size for comfort, speed and accuracy of the data entry. The display and keyboard of computers that are smaller than notebook computers have generally been downsized. The computers, therefore, are unable to duplicate desktop computer capability, even though the data processing and storage capacity is equivalent.
One smaller-than-notebook computer design, however, has proven useful and quite popular. The so-called personal digital assistant (PDA), such as the Newton.TM. by Apple Computer, Inc., includes a generally-rectangular chassis having a front surface thereon. The front surface is typically dominated by an LCD visual display device. In contrast to most other computer designs, the PDA does not contain a traditional "QWERTY" or other-style keyboard. Instead, the PDA is equipped with a few control buttons on the front surface and a stylus. A user wishing to enter data to the PDA must use the stylus to write on the display. Depending on the user's preferences, the PDA can store the user's writing as a bitmapped picture, requiring substantial memory storage capability and limiting the PDA's ability to manipulate the writing. Alternatively, with the advent of handwriting recognition software, the PDA can translate the writing into representative codes or characters suitable for more efficient processing and storage by the PDA. The stylus or the few control buttons on the front surface can also be used to move a pointer around the display to point at portions of a representation of a traditional keyboard shown on the screen. The stylus can further facilitate the entry of codes or characters.
Due to the high level of portability associated with the PDA (or other small computers, for that matter), the PDA may serve as a telephone directory for storing names and numbers. It may be desirable, however, to utilize the data processing and storage capabilities of the PDA to a larger extent than simply storing and displaying names and numbers on the display device. The PDA could be interfaced with a telecommunications device (such as a cellular or radio telephone) that would, for instance, allow the PDA to connect to networks, such as the Internet. The PDA would then have the ability to send and receive electronic mail or other data via the network, thus becoming much more than a simple telephone directory. Simply connecting the PDA to the telecommunications device may not, in itself, be sufficient. Under these circumstances, the user wishing to initiate a telephone call must still manually locate, retrieve and dial the appropriate telephone number. The user wishing to send an electronic mail is faced with the even greater burden of locating both the telephone number of the network and the appropriate electronic mail address.
Accordingly, what is needed in the art is a system and method for managing voice and data communications that provides greater ease of use and convenience to the user.